Fresno State Athletics
Saturday, December 29
Fresno, Calif.
4 p.m. PT
Fresno State
9-3
60
vs
64
Utah Valley University
11-4
1
2
F
Utah Valley
33
31
64
Fresno State
32
28
60
Photo by: Keith Kountz
’Dogs struggle to score in close 64-60 loss to Wolverines
12/29/2018 7:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fresno State redshirt senior guard Braxton Huggins scored a team-high 19 points as the Bulldogs dropped their first home game of the season. The ‘Dogs open Mountain West play on Wednesday at San Jose State and next host Colorado State on Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. PT.
FRESNO, Calif. --- The Fresno State men's basketball team struggled offensively in a 64-60 loss to the Utah Valley University Wolverines on Saturday at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State (9-3) will enter 2019 with a clean slate for Mountain West play after seeing its seven-game winning streak snapped by Utah Valley (11-4), who has now won 10 of its last 11 games and could climb near or into the Top 100 in the NCAA's new NET rankings, which will next be released on Sunday morning.
Fresno State redshirt senior guard Braxton Huggins scored a team-high 19 points with seven rebounds and New Williams added 13 points for the Bulldogs. Nate Grimes also had a game-high 13 rebounds and four blocks.
The 'Dogs will open their conference campaign on Wednesday at San Jose State and then return home to face Colorado State on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. Tickets for all remaining home games start at $15.
How it happened: In a game that featured two technical fouls on Utah Valley for unsportsmanlike conduct (taunting) in the first 15 minutes of the game, including one in the first three minutes, Fresno State nearly erased a six-point deficit late in the first half by scoring the final five points before halftime.
Neither team led by more than six points in the opening half, which saw the Bulldogs trail after 20 minutes for the first time this season with UVU holding a 33-32 advantage at the break.
The Bulldogs retook the lead multiple times after halftime, including a 43-42 lead on a Williams 3-pointer, but UVU countered with a 9-0 run to go up 51-43 on the 'Dogs midway through the second half.
Fresno State refused to go down quietly and evened the score at 59-59 when Huggins drove hard for a lay-up with 1:59 to play. But Huggins missed the ensuing free throw on a potential 3-point play and the Bulldogs committed two turnovers in the final two minutes.
As a team, Fresno State converted just 34 percent of its field goal attempts (18-for-53) and scored a season-low 60 points with 15 turnovers. The Wolverines outscored the 'Dogs 40-14 in the paint and got a team-high 15 points from Jake Toolson to help lead UVU to its fifth-straight win.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On settling into the pace of the game…
"It looked like a toothache out there. Utah Valley had three or four guys back on the shot, they were very patient and efficient on offense and they were very well-coached. We had to really buckle down defensively, which I thought we did but we never got into a rhythm offensively. Some of that was self-inflicted and some of that comes with credit to Utah Valley."
On looking ahead to conference play…
"Every conference is always tough, every coach would tell you that. You scout very well, you know the opponents and where you are going and sometimes there is a lot of familiarity in that. We have some new staffs around the Mountain West. Nevada has a lot of experience coming back, they have older guys and guys who are ready. They played a tough schedule, as did we. Everybody is 0-0, we just talked about that. We would have loved to have been 12-0, we thought we were going to be 10-2, but now it doesn't matter if we won that or not, we are going to be 0-0 coming into conference play. It is time to learn from that and see if we can be better on Wednesday at San Jose."
New Williams, Fresno State redshirt junior guard
On how this loss settles with the team…
"It doesn't settle well with us. We wanted that win really bad, Utah Valley is a good team. Like coach said, we had some self-inflicted wounds and too many turnovers on our end but Utah Valley is a good team and we are going to learn from it and bounce back."
Braxton Huggins, Fresno State redshirt senior guard
On the physicality of the game…
"Utah Valley always plays hard when they come out. They do a really good job scouting, they play tough and they get after it. They are a pretty tough team. Like we said, we have to cut down on the turnovers ourselves. We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and clean it up in transition."
Player Notes:
Braxton Huggins – 19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Fresno State (9-3) will enter 2019 with a clean slate for Mountain West play after seeing its seven-game winning streak snapped by Utah Valley (11-4), who has now won 10 of its last 11 games and could climb near or into the Top 100 in the NCAA's new NET rankings, which will next be released on Sunday morning.
Fresno State redshirt senior guard Braxton Huggins scored a team-high 19 points with seven rebounds and New Williams added 13 points for the Bulldogs. Nate Grimes also had a game-high 13 rebounds and four blocks.
The 'Dogs will open their conference campaign on Wednesday at San Jose State and then return home to face Colorado State on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. Tickets for all remaining home games start at $15.
How it happened: In a game that featured two technical fouls on Utah Valley for unsportsmanlike conduct (taunting) in the first 15 minutes of the game, including one in the first three minutes, Fresno State nearly erased a six-point deficit late in the first half by scoring the final five points before halftime.
Neither team led by more than six points in the opening half, which saw the Bulldogs trail after 20 minutes for the first time this season with UVU holding a 33-32 advantage at the break.
The Bulldogs retook the lead multiple times after halftime, including a 43-42 lead on a Williams 3-pointer, but UVU countered with a 9-0 run to go up 51-43 on the 'Dogs midway through the second half.
Fresno State refused to go down quietly and evened the score at 59-59 when Huggins drove hard for a lay-up with 1:59 to play. But Huggins missed the ensuing free throw on a potential 3-point play and the Bulldogs committed two turnovers in the final two minutes.
As a team, Fresno State converted just 34 percent of its field goal attempts (18-for-53) and scored a season-low 60 points with 15 turnovers. The Wolverines outscored the 'Dogs 40-14 in the paint and got a team-high 15 points from Jake Toolson to help lead UVU to its fifth-straight win.
Quotes:
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On settling into the pace of the game…
"It looked like a toothache out there. Utah Valley had three or four guys back on the shot, they were very patient and efficient on offense and they were very well-coached. We had to really buckle down defensively, which I thought we did but we never got into a rhythm offensively. Some of that was self-inflicted and some of that comes with credit to Utah Valley."
On looking ahead to conference play…
"Every conference is always tough, every coach would tell you that. You scout very well, you know the opponents and where you are going and sometimes there is a lot of familiarity in that. We have some new staffs around the Mountain West. Nevada has a lot of experience coming back, they have older guys and guys who are ready. They played a tough schedule, as did we. Everybody is 0-0, we just talked about that. We would have loved to have been 12-0, we thought we were going to be 10-2, but now it doesn't matter if we won that or not, we are going to be 0-0 coming into conference play. It is time to learn from that and see if we can be better on Wednesday at San Jose."
New Williams, Fresno State redshirt junior guard
On how this loss settles with the team…
"It doesn't settle well with us. We wanted that win really bad, Utah Valley is a good team. Like coach said, we had some self-inflicted wounds and too many turnovers on our end but Utah Valley is a good team and we are going to learn from it and bounce back."
Braxton Huggins, Fresno State redshirt senior guard
On the physicality of the game…
"Utah Valley always plays hard when they come out. They do a really good job scouting, they play tough and they get after it. They are a pretty tough team. Like we said, we have to cut down on the turnovers ourselves. We have to do a better job of taking care of the ball and clean it up in transition."
Player Notes:
Braxton Huggins – 19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal
- Has scored in double-digits in all 12 games.
- Tied his season-high 7 rebounds.
- Led the Bulldogs in scoring for the second consecutive game.
- Has recorded at least one steal in 10 games.
- Has scored in double-figures in 8 games this season.
- Scored in double-figures for the fourth consecutive game.
- Has recorded at least one steal in 9 games.
- Tied career-high 4 blocks.
- Rebounded in double-figures for the third time this season.
- Has recorded at least one block in 7 games.
- Fresno State has made at least six 3-pointers in every game this season. The Bulldogs are 21-3 in the last 24 games making at least 10 3pt-FGs.
- Fresno State is in the middle of a 12-game stretch of playing exclusively in the state of California. Fresno State is 8-2 in the first 10 games of the Golden State run.
- The loss snapped Fresno State's seven-game winning streak, which was tied for the 11th-longest active streak in the nation, and eight-game nonconference home winning streak.
- Fresno State dropped to 59-13 overall at home since the start of the 2014-15 season, including a 31-5 record versus nonconference opponents.
- Fresno State is now 48-10 overall at home since the start of the 2015-16 season.
- The game was the Bulldogs' 250th game played at the Save Mart Center. Fresno State is now 175-75 (70 percent home winning percentage) all-time at the Save Mart Center.
"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160.
Team Stats
UVU
FS
FG%
.462
.340
3FG%
.176
.273
FT%
.765
.643
RB
34
34
TO
14
15
STL
9
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
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